Ghislaine Maxwell wins $13.70 award from accuser for legal costs

Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite and close confidant of Jeffrey Epstein who is accused of helping Epstein recruit and sexually abuse underage girls, won $13.70 on Wednesday, after a judge ordered one of her accusers to cover Maxwell’s legal expenses.

A woman under the pseudonym “Jane Doe” filed a lawsuit last year accusing the socialite of acting like “an older sister” when Doe was 13 years old. She accused Maxwell of grooming her to be sexually abused by Epstein, and raped by him at age 17, Bloomberg reported.

Doe dropped the case last year, opting to join a settlement that offered a victims’ compensation fund established by Epstein’s estate, according to Bloomberg.

After the case was dropped, Maxwell’s lawyer Laura Menninger took action on a provision that allows the “prevailing party” to be reimbursed for costs, other than legal fees, when a case is dismissed on one’s accord, Bloomberg reported.

Maxwell filed a bill for $5 to cover court docketing fees and $8.70 for “other costs,” which Bloomberg said appears to refer to money the federal court system charged her for reading documents online, which costs 10 cents a page.

 “With all due respect to the judge and the law, the idea of our client having to pay Ms. Maxwell anything is very disturbing,” Robert Glassman, an attorney for Doe, said in a statement to The Hill.

Maxwell, 59, is currently being held in a New York prison after being arrested last year. She faces an eight-count indictment for allegedly helping carry out a sex trafficking scheme by Epstein, who died in jail awaiting trial in August 2019.

Her trial was delayed last month, and is now set to begin in the fall. Maxwell has repeatedly been denied bail.

A representative for Maxwell did not respond to a request for comment.

— Updated 4:55 p.m.